Ro-ro is an acronym for Roll-on/roll-off.

Roll-on/roll-off ships are vessels that are used to

carry wheeled cargo. The ro-ro ship is different from lo-lo (lift on-lift off) ship that uses a
crane to load the cargo. The vehicles in the ship are loaded and unloaded by means of
built-in ramps. Normally these ramps are made towards the stern (backside) of the ship.
In some ships, they are also found on the bow side (front) as well as the sides. The
vessel can be of both military and civilian types.

Ro-ro vessels were being built in the 19th century to transport trains, too wide for the
bridges, across rivers. An example of a ro-ro vessel is the Firth of Forth ferry which
started operations in 1851. The rails were laid on the ship so that it could be connected
to the ones on land. A train would then simply roll onto the ship and then roll off at the
other end.

Credits: hafen-hamburg.de
There are various types of ro-ro vessels, such as ferries, cruise ferries, cargo ships, and
barges. The ro-ro vessels that are exclusively used for transporting cars and trucks
across oceans are known as Pure Car Carriers (PCC) and Pure Truck & Car Carriers
(PCTC) respectively. Unlike other cargos that are measured in metric tonnes, the ro-ro
cargo is measured in a unit called lanes in meters (LIMs). LIM is calculated by
multiplying cargo length in meters by the number of decks and by its width in lanes. The
lane width will differ from vessel to vessel and there are a number of industry standards.

The largest ro-ro passenger ferry is MS Color Magic. It weighs 75,100 GT (Gross Ton).
It entered the service in September 2007 for Color Line. It was built in Finland by Aker
Finnyards. The ferry is 223.70 m long, 35 m wide and can carry 550 cars as well as
1270 lane meters of cargo.

The ro-ro passenger ferry with the greatest car-carrying capacity is the Ulysses. The
ferry was named after a novel by James Joyce and is owned by Irish Ferries. It entered
the service on 25 March 2001 and operates between Dublin and Holyhead. It weighs
50,938 GT and is 209.02 m long and 31.84 m wide. It can carry 1342 cars and 4101
lane meters of cargo.
 Image for Representation Purpose Only; Credits: nykroro.com

Advantages of a ro-ro ship

A ro-ro ship offers a number of advantages over traditional ships. Some of the
advantages are as follows:

 For the shipper, the advantage is speed. Since cars and lorries can drive straight
on to the ship at one port and then drive off at the other port within a few
minutes of the ship docking, it saves a lot of time of the shipper.

 It can also integrate well with other transport development, such as containers.
The use of Customs-sealed units has enabled frontiers to be crossed with the
minimum of delay. Therefore, it increases the speed and efficiency for the
shipper.
 The ship has also proved extremely popular with holiday makers and private car
owners. It has significantly contributed to the growth of tourism. A person can
take his car from one country to another by sea with the help of a ro-ro vessel.
Variations of a ro-ro ship

The certain variations of a ro-ro ship are as follows:

1. ROPAX

ROPAX is an acronym for roll on/roll off passenger. It is a ro-ro vessel built for freight
vehicle transport with passenger accommodation. The vessels with facilities for more
than 500 passengers are often referred to as cruise ferries.

1. ConRO

The ConRo vessel is a hybrid between a ro-ro and a container ship. This type of vessel
uses the area below the decks for vehicle storage while stacking containerized freight
on the top of the decks.

1. RoLo

RoLo is an acronym for roll-on lift-off vessel. It is also a hybrid vessel type with ramps
serving vehicle decks but the other cargo decks are accessible only by crane.